Page 29 of Bonded in Death

Though his grief pumped through the ’link, he remained polite, restrained, throughout her instructions.

When she’d finished, ended the call, she looked at Peabody.

“Let’s hope they know something they don’t think they know. Seven more, Peabody. He’s an arrogant bastard and a crazy fucker, but he’s got a plan. A plan and a kill list.”

Peabody looked at her signaling ’link. “It’s Rossi’s workplace. I’m going to take this at my desk.” She scrambled up and out.

So Eve took her thinking time with the rest of her slice.

The method of murder with Rossi. Time-consuming, complicated. Overly complicated, she thought. So a purpose to the method or why bother?

She swiveled around to deal with the stolen limo.

Peabody hustled back in, then dropped to the floor to finish her pizza.

“That was Rossi’s direct supervisor. Shocked, upset—genuinely upset when I told her Rossi’s dead. She pressed for details.”

“Which you didn’t give her.”

“Which I didn’t give her. And she wasn’t big on giving me many, either. A lovely man, a good family man, excellent at his work.”

“And that work, exactly?”

“Providing cybersecurity for companies and individuals throughout Europe. She said Rossi handled clients remotely or on-site, though in the last few years of employment had requested less travel. And that jibes with the data. She said he was a valued employee, respected, always willing to assist if a team member had an issue, and kept current with tech.”

“If he was so good, why wasn’t he a supervisor after nearly four decades?”

“I asked, and she told me he preferred working in the field, being part of a team rather than leading one. She asked about his family, and that seemed genuine, too, the concern. She didn’t know, or said she didn’t know, of anyone who had a problem with him, anyone who’d wish him harm. And said she didn’t know anything about a friend in New York.

“I don’t think that was genuine. Just a feeling because she never hesitated, looked me straight in the eye. But…”

“But?” Eve prompted.

“I felt like there was something under it. I expected the block when I asked about clients, about details of his work. Privacy, confidentiality. And the fact he’d retired several years ago. But it just felt… rote. Oh, and she had perfect English. Not just good, perfect. I complimented her on it, and asked if they had clients in the States. She said they just served Europe.”

“Okay. Go ahead and do a good, solid run on her. The more we know, the more we know. How old is she?”

“Early fifties.”

“So he’d have had other supervisors before this one. She’d have been a kid during the Urbans.” Thinking, Eve looked back at the board. “Do that run anyway. If we circle back to her, or any previous supervisors, I’ll take it. Boss to boss.”

“I’ll get started on that.” Peabody got up, and like Eve, looked at the board. “I’ve been trying to find out where he got that scar—the one Morris said was a knife wound. And where the breaks Morris mentioned were treated. I’ve got nothing.”

“Medicals can be tricky, especially from way back.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got some of the usual. Vaccines, standard physicals, a sprained ankle a couple years ago. But nothing on a knife wound, nothing on broken bones.”

Eve considered. “Morris can give us a ballpark, but… I’ll ask him to consult with DeWinter. She’s bones, so she’d likely be able to do better than ballpark.

“I don’t see how it applies to murder, but—”

“The more we know,” Peabody echoed.

“Yeah,” she murmured when Peabody left.

She read the ME’s report again.

Broken clavicle, two broken fingers, three broken ribs, broken left arm.

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